Students stranded in Juba to protest gov’t inability to fly them back to Ethiopian universities

JUBA – About  180 South Sudanese students on government scholarships in Ethiopia have threatened to go on protests next week  if the government fails to facilitate their return tickets to Ethiopia.

The students were repatriated back to South Sudan in June 2020 due to the deadly outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

“The leadership of South Sudan scholarship students studying in Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, and were repatriated back to South Sudan in June 2020 due to COVID-19, would like to inform the general public and organized forces in Juba City that students will conduct a peaceful protest on Monday, 1 February 2021 at 9:00 AM,” the students stated in a statement extended to Sudans Post.

The group said the peaceful protest aimed at creating urgency to facilitate their return tickets will be conducted at the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology and the Ministry of Finance.

“This is a total violation to the promise made to the students by the government about the facilitation of our return tickets seven months ago,” it said.

The group said that they have tried over possible means to settle the issue of tickets with the government but failed leaving students leadership with no other option than to call for protest.

“We, therefore, urge the general public and organized forces to stay calm and bear with us and respect our constitutional rights of expression,” said the student leaders.